Lower US stockpiles fuel oil prices rise in Asia
27 Mar 2008
News that the biggest consumer of oil, the United States, had lower-than-expected stockpiles, have led to an escalation of oil prices in Asian trades.
In early trades today, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for May delivery rose 25 cents to $106.15 a barrel from yesterday's close of $105.90 at the close of US markets.
London's Brent North Sea crude experienced a steeper rise, with contracts for May delivery gaining 36 cents to $104.35 a barrel. One contract equals 1,000 barrels.
These increases resulted from news from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) that its crude stockpiles were unchanged at 311.8 million barrels in the week ending on 21st March, in contrast to market expectations of a weekly gain of 1.8 million barrels.